Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the treatment of tissue via energy delivery. More particularly, certain embodiments of the present disclosure relate to thermal ablation of lung tissue with energy delivered via a piercing needle.
Description of the Related Art
Lung cancer, especially when presented in the form of cancerous nodules, has a high incidence of morbidity and mortality in patients. Early stages of lung cancer can take the form of solitary pulmonary nodules (in particular those under 5 mm in size) and may require careful evaluation by a medical professional, especially in patients that have risk factors such as tobacco use or a family history of cancer.
Lung nodules, other cancerous or pre-cancerous regions of tissue in the lung, and other tissue lesions may be difficult to treat with invasive surgical techniques, with attendant complications such as excessive bleeding, infection risk, air leaks, pneumothorax, and other such issues. In particular, regions deep in the lung may be difficult to access using conventional methods, further increasing the difficulty of treatment.
A number of ablation treatments have been used to treat tumors or other tissue in a patient's body. In some cases, ablation therapy may be used to treat tumors that are not responsive to chemotherapy or other techniques. Ablation treatments come in the form of RF ablation, microwave ablation to destroy the tumor tissue with heat, cryoablation to freeze a tumor. Thermochemical ablation can also be used and can be used to destroy tumors by either heat or freezing depending on the reactants used.
Much of the technology used for the treatment of suspect or cancerous tumors in the body requires general surgery or the use of expensive capital equipment with a large suite of specially tools.